Family

Even more than what we personally see, our view of Jos is informed by the people we meet and interact with. We enjoy the opportunities we have to chat about how and why things are the way they seem to be here in Jos. Seeing Barb and Frank last Thursday night was a great treat, as we’ve shared many experiences together in Madison and now here in Nigeria as well. They’ve had an outstanding trip here all around and it was interesting to hear some of their experiences and insights. Tonight, we had the special treat of going out for Chinese food with the Isicheis, their good friend Fava, Sharon Hale, and Biana Grogg.

Marriage and family are very strong values in Nigerian culture. We were privileged to attend the wedding of one of the staff I’ve worked with at FA on Saturday. It was a Christian ceremony similar to ones we have in the U.S. except that it wasn’t in English, and was an hour and a half once it started (an hour later than stated). It was a joyful event to be part of. Family issues are complicated among people who are HIV-positive. I’ve recently been involved in the care of women who are now quite sick as a result of their pregnancy, despite extensive counseling by FA regarding the likelihood of highly complicated pregnancies. As more people do well on ARVs, marriage and family are complex emotional, cultural, medical and spiritual issues. While FA strives to support patients as well as possible, the effect of HIV on families is easily observable in the personal stories we hear of spouses and children who have died, and widows who raise their children amidst great challenges.

And so you know that Ryan’s here too, check out some pics – (L-R), a) Ryan, Hillary, Frank and Barb Esselink, b) Fidelis and Nanya’s wedding, c) a cool lizard with an orange head.

Rainy Season

Ready or not, the rains have arrived! The rainy season started Monday. We have daily afternoon rains for 1-3 hours, and occasional T-storms much like Midwest summer storms. It’s 20 degrees cooler (mid-70s) and no longer as dusty! Our week is going well. I’ve lead 3 of 4 discussion sections at JUTH for 5th year med students (after much review and it was a bit intimidating at first). It has been interesting interacting with them and comparing our respective training systems. At JUTH, I’ve also toured and learned of the work of APIN (AIDS Prevention in Nigeria), a collaborative research group between JUTH, Harvard, and the Gates Foundation. It’s great to interact with the researchers who are involved in studying prevention of HIV transmission, esp. from mother to child. Interestingly, Jos has the largest number of people treated with ARVs per capita in Africa (and the world), and I’m beginning to understand factors contributing to this. The work of HIV prevention, awareness, screening, treatment and adherence is tangibly great; over 60 groups are involved here in Jos alone.

We’re enjoying the pace of life here. Our mornings tend to be full with clinic, photography/filming/interviews, or set appointments, and our afternoons are flexible for working on our respective projects. We’ve had a chance to visit other friends/contacts here in Jos. It’s been great to see Barb and Frank, tour Evangel Hospital, and we look forward to joining them for dinner tomorrow at the Valkenaar’s (parents of one of my MD/PhD classmates). We continue to enjoy wonderful hospitality of our many hosts.

Ryan is capturing great film and print depictions of life here at FA and in Jos. We’re enjoying the friends we’re meeting and the people we get to interact with. For those interested in seeing our pictures, a link is proving easier to use. From L-R, a) Titi – a member of the FA support group, b) Musa – a wonderful, supportive member of the Isichei household and FA, c) Blessing and the daughter of one of her students at Blessing’s sewing shop, d) the adorable daughter of a student of the FA Sewing Shop.

Sunday - FA Support Group

Our first full week in Jos has been very good. It only took two days to move our rhythms 6 hours forward, and about five days to hear that my luggage is present and accounted for in Abuja! Dr. Chris will return with it on Wednesday, where he is picking up Biana Grogg, a Public Health nurse who will be volunteering for the next year. The weather has been in the high 80s each day, but with a pleasant (though, dusty) breeze. We hear that the rains are expected to start any day. I hope they hold off for 3-4 more days so that construction at the clinic site can progress far enough to enable patients to wait under a temporary structure. More importantly, we hope to move into the finished ground floor of the new hospital building soon. Floor tiles, painting, doors, and light fixtures are all being installed simultaneously (no small feat in Nigeria!) to complete work in two weeks or so.

Today, we enjoyed worshipping at United Baptist Church with Dr. Mercy (Isichei). The message, fellowship, and welcome we received were very good. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences in this service and Fountain of Life in Madison. We also attended the FA Support Group weekly meeting. This is a time devoted to praise and encouragement, fellowship and teaching – today a message from Pastor Bakut and teaching on adherence and HIV mechanisms (I think, since it was largely in Hausa, though, I understood “macrophages”) from Dr. Ben. Then, Ryan and I were welcomed as visitors, presented with gifts, and we presented a quilt that a partnering congregation in the U.S. made for the Support Group (follow link to see picture).

We’re looking forward to our next week, especially as we’re getting used to the daily pattern here. I’ll be leading 3 tutorial sections to medical students of Jos Univ. Teaching Hosp on Mon, Tues and Wed since Dr. Chris is away. I’m glad to help him out in this way. I hope Nigerian medical students are more willing to participate in discussion sections that my classmates and I sometimes were! Our home life with the Isichei’s is great. We enjoy their kids (Emmy, 4+, Prince, 3, and Joey, 5 months), who have lots of energy and love, as well as the others who live with them as part of their family and help keep things running very smoothly here.

Personal stories

Yesterday, I filmed some interviews with Faith Alive staff for the magazine/documentary project I’m working on. The first was with a man named Danny(see link); Danny, like many staff at FA, was first a patient. He came to be tested for HIV after his wife became sick and died – when he got his test back, it was positive. He lost his job when his employer found out, and he became suicidal. Thankfully, through the intervention and counseling of Dr. Isichei, he was able to overcome his depression and start on ARV drugs to maintain his health. He now works for FA in various capacities, and is forever grateful for the ministry of this clinic. He has direct insight into the stimga that HIV positive people face.

The second interview was with a Muslim woman. She also lost her spouse, as well as her youngest child, to AIDS. She came to FA hoping for someone to help, and she was surprised to not be turned away based on her religion.With her health stabilized by ARVs, she now teaches other patients knitting skills through the FA Training Center, as a way of supporting themselves during treatment.

These are just two of the many stories of how Faith Alive has helped people in tragic, desperate situations become hopeful and healthy again. It is an honor to work with such an organization. Thanks to all of you who have been following our experiences. -Ryan

Faith Alive Foundation Hospital

We’ve now participated in two days of clinic as usual at FA. Each day begins at 8:30 with a message of encouragement, praise and worship, prayer and announcements. Then, seven teams composed of a doctor, nurse, counselor, adherence specialist, and treatment support specialist begin seeing patients. The patients always see the same team, and thus have a high degree of continuity of care. Through PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief) funding and individual sponsorship ($365/year provides anti-retroviral drugs from India for one patient), about 2000 people receive treatment and monitoring from FA. More than 5000 others are on the waiting list. At this point, a majority of patients are doing well on drugs; so well that many are able to participate in jobs at FA (all Adherence and Treatment Specialists are HIV positive), the Sunday Support Group (currently membership is 200-600 people), or learn trades through the FA Sewing, Computer, or Discipleship Schools. Almost without exception, each patient, whether Christian or Muslim, is grateful for the free care provided through FA, and praise God for the new life, hope and encouragement they receive.

The photo is of Blessing, standing in front of the FA Transition House. Up to three FA patients can stay here, just a block from the clinic, if they have been rejected by their families and have nowhere else to live. Blessing is a success story. She graduated from the FA Sewing School and now has a shop where she makes items for sale, and has seven students of her own. She is currently looking for a place to rent for herself and her two sons.

We have visited many areas of FA’s work, including clinic, home-based care to the family of a man who died yesterday, the pharmacy, and the skills schools. Ryan is capturing many different views of FA to use as he updates the FA brochure, designs a new website for them and creates a documentary based on interviews with patients and staff of FA for their upcoming 10th Anniversary Celebration on 23rd June 2006. I am enjoying joining the FA staff in their respective roles to more fully understand the good work that is done here through FA.

Happy Easter from Jos!

After a long but smooth series of travel legs, we arrived in the capital city Abuja, where we were warmly greeted by Dr. Chris and highly efficiently ushered around customs – so well that I forgot a bag and now we’re following up on it. All in all, though, we’re now well-situated in the 3rd story flat above the Isichei’s very active family community and have been incorporated in with constant “You are Welcome,” greetings.

This afternoon we visited the remains of the Faith Alive Clinic building. Much has been lost, from first-class lab equipment for monitoring patient CD4 counts and blood chemistries, to thousands of medical records, drugs, and other clinic equipment. The FA staff were just three weeks from moving into the new hospital next door that is still under construction. The cause of the fire was a not-uncommon electrical wiring issue. As Dr. Chris viewed the loss due to the fire, it was amazing to witness his sincere response of trusting that as God gives and takes, He will give again according to His good will. Dr. Chris is leading us all well in giving thanks in all things (an instruction that he himself has counseled HIV patients with for years, and now practices himself).

An unexpected event...

Our travel to Nigeria begins tomorrow. This morning we heard from Barb Esselink, a friend from Madison who is in Jos, that Faith Alive had burned to the ground. Just now, we heard from the clinic director, Dr. Chris Isichei, who wrote, "This morning at 5am, my wife called that the medical records, all the labs, in fact the entire half of Faith Alive was engulfed by fire and nothing recovered. Of course, I have in the past few years communicated with PEPFAR people on insurance but I wish I had the funds to do it on our own. No insurance on anything whatsoever at Faith Alive including their new jeep. We have lost so much. We have lost almost all, but more importantly, no life was lost. Like Job, we praise God. He gives, He takes and He gives again."

So, Ryan and I hope to be as useful as possible to Dr. Chris and Faith Alive as they rebuild. We appreciate your prayers for the work of rebuilding the clinic and continuing the ministry of Faith Alive despite this tragedy.

In two weeks...

As you know if you're reading this, we're headed to Jos, Nigeria to serve and learn (and do cool stuff). We will be departing on April 14, and returning on June 15. That gives us about eight weeks there, plus one week at the end to visit friends in Germany as we return home. We are very excited about the opportunities we will have to volunteer and learn from the Nigerians we'll be working with.

Some brief facts about Nigeria::
location: West Africa
size: 910, 768 sq. km (roughly twice the size of California)
population: 130 million
ethnic makeup: more than 250 ethnic groups; the most populous and politically influential are:
Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5%
religions: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
languages: English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani

What we'll be up to::
Ryan: I will be doing photography and design for a variety or organizations, including Faith Alive, NIFES (InterVarsity Nigeria), and the Nigerian Evangelical Missions Association. In addition, I will be shooting video for 2100 Productions to be used at Urbana in December.
Hillary: I will be working at an HIV/AIDS clinic (Faith Alive Foundation Hospital), assisting with public health-related projects and clinical activites. FAF provides holistic care to HIV+ patients free of charge. This learning opportunity “counts” as an international medical school rotation, and should be a great transition back into clinical medicine for me.

We will be staying with Dr. Christian Isichei, founder of Faith Alive, and his wife Mercy, who have extended great hospitality to us. We appreciate your prayers and encouragement as we travel to Jos this spring, and we hope to learn a lot during our stay. Please continue checking this site as we plan on sharing our experiences and reflections here throughout our trip.

Preparations

Ryan and I will be traveling to Jos, Nigeria from April 14 - June 8. I'll be volunteering at an HIV/AIDS clinic called Faith Alive Foundation Hospital, involved in public health projects and some clinical experiences. Ryan will be helping with photography, web, and video needs of the clinic, as well as other Christian organizations in Jos.

We're very thankful for our gracious Nigerian hosts and connections. Our preparations are well underway for our trip to Nigeria. We received our visas yesterday!